Mach5

Bugg exhibits poor disposal, but doesn't panic in the same way and seems a much smarter player. Grimes is a hard worker, but I'm yet to hear anyone refer to him as an intelligent footballer (not the same as person).

Good call. I'm sure when any random punter asks a incoming coach about a player, he'll give a brutally honest answer instead of offering vague platitudes.

And Oscar. Gotta be someone rotating through off the bench. I don't care what sort of mistakes he has made so far this season, Oscar will be every bit as good as his brother.

He has played some great games so far this season, and some pedestrian ones. The post above remains true though.

Not at all, just shows a much higher regard for the ability of Salem, Oliver and Brayshaw, which I wholeheartedly share. Appreciate his efforts, but M Jones and Grimes likewise have obvious limitations that will see the aforementioned three youngsters supersede them sooner rather than later, thankfully. Supporters should never be asked to apologise for being excited at having better options waiting in the wings, for wanting players in the side that are more likely to bring success.

If you think football clubs and/or players wait until the end of the season to have these discussions, you are sadly mistaken.

My educated guess on this is Grimes' reluctance to take necessary risks, for fear of wearing the blame for mistakes, in spite of what the coaching dept was preaching. Part of this would have been the onfield "personality" that was drilled into him through the Neeld era which was a polar opposite. Slowing play (allowing oppositon structures time to close gaps) looking for an option that isn't there, and attempting pinpoint kicks along the boundary that skew out-on-the-full have hurt him, and it has taken time to unlearn these things. Last night I was happy to see him bang the ball on his boot quickly and roll the dice based on kicking to situation where we held the favourable odds. He wasn't perfect, but Grimes showed progress that I had begun to think was never coming. It's a simplification, but in Grimes' case in particular "kick it long" is back en vogue.

Looked ok again tonight.

I'm not sure if I'm giving him too much credit, but it feels like he did that on purpose; i.e. the club will go on and write the ending.

Obviously he means "next week would be his last game."

I think we'd have to be mad. Salem isn't competing with those listed; they are competing for the spots left over once he is named in the side. Those names don't beat him for a place in the team when fully fit.

I know it's not exactly scientific, but all you have to do is watch Hogan's body language and interaction with his teammates at training or on gameday. Unless we get blown out of the water by another team paying him $2mil per year, he's with us for the long haul.

Provides great link play, run and carry, and can maintain possession with accurate disposal. Doesn't win much hard ball however, so he's an icing type of player, and you can't carry too many. Not too dissimilar to Brad Hill though, in my opinion. Acceleration not as good though. And $500K may be a bit too much. Wouldn't be surprised if we made a play though, based on past interest.

I'm still holding out hope. He has shown flashes, and it has been a long time since he has played consistently, with the game changing quite a bit in that time.

Ignoring all the carry on, sadly Dawes was worth $2mil over 4 years to us at the stage we acquired him.

Vardy is toast, forget it.

Ben Hart. Do it.

Can anyone honestly name a time when Jay Clark has had good "mail"? He's a pretender.

Maybe switch "game" for "season", but even then it is hard to gauge. Until we get more serious pace onto the list there will be a place for M Jones.

I like ANB, but get the feeling I'm going to have to agree. But sometimes kids with his character can surprise.

I seriously doubt this would carry any weight whatsoever with players.

Yes, I did. Trying to do too many things at once. Was there a 2018 being mentioned in there somewhere too?

No, we traded our 2017 pick to GCS back in 2016. You can only trade one year ahead as a maximum.

I've long had a feeling Kent would be a candidate for a Prestia trade. Just seems like GCS would be an appealing place for him, just like Howe. He has shown flashes of brilliance, yet I'm not convinced Kent gives us anything we can't get from Kennedy, and his inconsistency can be frustrating. He has enough value to make him worth keeping, but you'd expect that from a player at this stage of his career, and as is often said: you have to give up something of value to get something of value. Also, those who bemoan the northern academies should actually be praising their introduction, as they have created a new way for clubs with little trade currency to generate bargaining chips by combining the value of later picks. With Jack Bowes to come in this season, Gold Coast would love an additional 2nd rounder in 2016 to offset his high cost. Bundling it in with another 1st rounder for next year would be quite appealing. Not to mention the relationship we have built with GCS during our dealings last season. Ergo, I'm not convinced when some say we don't have the trade assets to acquire Prestia purely because we traded away our 1st rounder this year.

Your point..? Which option do you honestly think the mob of fools would cry?